Audio description on TV
Audio description services on television are now established in many countries, and will be trialled in Australia in 2012.
The highest levels of audio description on TV are found in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.
In the UK, all broadcasters have been working towards 10% of audio described programming since 2003, with many channels doing more than this. In the US, legislation passed in 2010 will see the major networks and cable stations broadcast 7 hours of audio described programs per week by 2012.
Germany, Austria, Ireland, France, Switzerland and other European countries have also had some audio described programming.
- Audio description on TV in Australia
- Audio description on TV in the UK
- Audio description on TV in the US
- Audio description on TV in Canada
Television audio description services are usually provided in a 'closed' format. This means that the viewer selects the audio description service via a menu option or button on the remote control.
Audio description is delivered as a second audio stream to your television, and can be either 'receiver mixed' or 'broadcast mixed'. For more information about receiver mixed and broadcast mixed, please see Media Access Australia's
Audio Description Background Paper (DOC, 1.74 MB).
View a list of companies that supply audio description services.
